


Of Stages and Stars

by tukimecca



Category: World Trigger
Genre: Crack, Idol AU, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-12 08:42:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9064597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tukimecca/pseuds/tukimecca
Summary: After their retirement, legendary Idol Group BORDER announced they're coming back to entertainment industry as an agency and they're debuting their first idol group in 10 years.
Correction; their first idol groupS. With S.





	1. of Border Team B

**Author's Note:**

> aka. the side-effect of Smash Border's IDOL! GACHA!
> 
> I'm not that familiar with J-Idol scene, more with K-Idols (coughanySHINeeWorldhere?cough). Anyways, whoever put Kazama-Ninomiya-Kageura-Miwa is absolutely brilliant because I would personally group them together too. I imagine songs they sing would be like "Evil", "Tell Me What to Do", or "Everybody" from SHINee because they're 'dark' and 'powerful'.
> 
> Updates will be sporadic at best since this is one of those self-indulgent fics. Chapters won't be linear, either, this more a collection of ficlet than continuous chapters. BUT we shall see.

Kazama often questions whoever idea it was to assemble these people together in the first place.

Sure, Ninomiya is a _bloody fantastic_ singer with bottomless ocean-depth of baritone voice that can make skirts fly. And Kageura’s rap is not only fast, but also veracious, rich with emotion. Miwa dances like he is born for it; a liquid fire, body executing step after step in fluid, elegant motions.

Talent-wise, Kazama cannot deny that they’re exactly the member he is looking for if he was to lead a unit of performance-centred idol group.

Personality, though?

There is talent, and there is personality. Please put them in separate box like recyclable and non-recyclable trash.

Pretty please with extra cherry on top.

Kazama doesn’t massage his temple, no, that’d make it too obvious he’s frustrated and nearly at his wit’s end, which means he’s losing, and Kazama hates losing. So, _no_ , he is not doing that, he’s not pinching the bridge of his nose either.

No. He just sighs; deep and deeper with every ticking seconds as the conversation continues.

Miwa keeps on _insisting_ that they should go with _“Jin Crusher”_ , while Ninomiya doesn’t relent at pushing his equally non-brilliant idea of _“Tachikawa Buster”._ Kageura is blissfully unaware of his surrounding, with his gigantic sleek-black headphone on, he frowns himself in the loud-blaring music of _that-American-rapper-whose-name-Kazama-refused-to-admit-cannot-properly-pronounce_.

Kazama envies their team’s main rapper, if he wasn’t their appointed leader, he doesn’t have to deal with these two overly-emotional yet equally talented idol-to-be boys.

The problem is, _he is_ their appointed leader, and while weaving strings of still-polite and intellectual sounding curses in his head, Kazama finally decides it is time for him to act like one.

Ninomiya is half-way in his argument about “ _Why Tachikawa Buster is better name than Jin Crushers_ ”, adding some factors like Tachikawa is the best singer amongst all Border Trainee, to unconvinced looking Miwa, when Kazama calls out,

“Do you really want to be in a group with your rivals in it?”

Silence falls, heavy curtain of stage’s velvet. Both (childish, immature, yet talented) boys freeze like someone just hit their head using mic-stand. Kazama watches them with nonplussed expression that perfectly conceals his inner turmoil; _please, please, let them retain their supposedly existing sense_.

Kageura finally stops his music, he takes off his headphone and _finally_ finds his future members interesting to watch. Kazama doesn’t miss his chance, seeking for salvation, he quickly asks their appointed rapper.

“Isn’t that right, Kageura? Surely you don’t want to be named after Tachikawa, Jin, or,” he pauses for dramatic effect, registering how Ninomiya and Miwa are still staring at each other, dumfounded. “Inukai?”

The result is instant. Kageura blanches like someone just forced him to eat dirt. “Fuck. No. Just- Fuck, No. Not in hell. Who in their right mind would want to be named after them?”

And that seems to be a hard slap in the face for Ninomiya and Miwa. Kazama can almost hear the way gears and cogs are turning in their heads, whirring loudly as their sanity finally knocks on the door of their brain, announcing its long-awaited arrival.

And just around the same time, the door of the meeting room where they are in, told to go and wait in until Kidou-san announced their official team name after their debut is announced, is being knocked from outside.

“It’s probably Tsukimi,” Kazama says then signals Kageura to open the door, the black-haired boy grumbles but obeys anyways.

Indeed, it’s Tsukimi, their appointed manager, outside the door. “Kidou-san is calling for you. The name has been decided.” Why Tsukimi turns down the offer to be Tachikawa’s Team manage is beyond Kazama, but he is not one to meddle with other people’s business.

“Thank you, Tsukimi,” Kazama nods at her which she replies with a smile and nod of her own. He then turns to his main vocal and main dancer, who, judging from the expression of their faces, have _finally_ realized that they literally have no control over their team’s name. “Well then, shall we go to receive our name?”

Later, Kazama will make sure to bring this story on whenever someone asks them the story behind their team name. But just as soon as the idea came, he realizes it’s probably not a wise decision. After all, he cannot destroy the image of his own group, right?


	2. of Border's History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who is BORDER, the idol group who had taken over Japan's music industry by storm?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The background of 1st gen BORDER.
> 
> SHO-1 : Sho-ichi  
> U-GO: Yuugo
> 
> I'm sorry for my horrible sense of naming. Next chapter will be about Kazama!

It is common knowledge that Japan idol market is monopolized by one big agency for decades.

It is no secret but for the sake of author’s safety, let’s omit the said agency’s name from this story. Let’s just say it begins with ‘J’ and I will let your imagination takes over.

Anyways, it’s a common knowledge that no idol groups from lesser agency had managed to overthrow them. Nobody but one, one idol group that suddenly appeared from out of nowhere (compared to the Capital City of Tokyo, Mikado with its 280.000 population is classified as _nowhere_ ).

Made of 5 charming young men with diverse talent, they managed to dethrone the reigning agency right off their debut and maintained their position at the peak for five years straight.

Border, that was their name, and many people including market experts predicted they’d change the direction of Japan’s entertainment industry in the future, many others believe they will be the next legendary national group after a certain group from the previously reigning agency.

The phenomenon was called “Border Fever”, for five years, they topped every single charts from the most prestigious Oricon to Billboard. Each of their new releases always secured the first position for at least 2 months before they fall down to third or fifth position for another months.

Everybody loved Border, from teen to adults, from children to elderly. Nobody doesn’t know about Border. They were even invited to various music events overseas as well, which spurred their international fame.

Sadly, just about when they’re about to advance to international market, that plane accident had to happen. All 5 members are alive, 3 escaped with bruises and broken bones, but nothing fatal. Two key members, however; the leader U-GO and main rapper SHO-1 (Shoichi) weren’t so lucky.

U-GO became mute for permanent damage in vocal chords and SHO-1 had to live in wheelchair forever for spinal cord damage. The remaining three refused to perform without them and in the end, Border had to announce their retirement, but the name of BORDER will remain, this time, not as an idol group but as an agency.

After ten years, they finally announced the debut of their first idol group.

Correction; group _s_ , with _s_ , plural.

Yes, indeed, they’re going to debut two idol groups at the same time. Each groups will be targeting different market and musical direction. One group; Vega will appeal to public with their bright and playful concept. The other one; Altair will be performance-centred group, aiming for musicality.

The news spread like fire on dry forest and for months, it’s all the media can talk about. Can Border reclaim their throne in music industry once again? Will this concept of practically making rivalry within their own agency work?

In response of the later question, Kidou Masamune, CEO of Border Agency and previous main dancer of BORDER answers, “of course, everything is according to plan.”

Well, we shall wait and see, shalln’t we?


	3. Of Kazama Souya

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shin was naturally gifted at almost everything but mostly performing. Kazama always believes his brother was born to sing, to dance, to perform and capture the heart of everyone. Everything came to Shin like breathing, so Kazama always believed that it was his brother’s fate to stand on the stage under spotlight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year everyone!  
> Here is Kazama's back story for joining BORDER.

Kazama Souya joined Border purely because of his brother.

Shin was naturally gifted at almost everything but mostly performing. Kazama always believes his brother was born to sing, to dance, to perform and capture the heart of everyone. Everything came to Shin like breathing, so Kazama always believed that it was his brother’s fate to stand on the stage under spotlight.

Unlike Shin, performing didn’t come to Kazama as easy. He had to work hard, harder than his brother even to catch up with him. He might not love performing as much as Shin, but he wants to make his dream come true; for them to debut and finally stand on stage.

It could have happened if not for the evil clutch of fate that robbed Shin not only of his dream but also his life.

The horrible car crash had to happen and for a while, a shadow of old tragedy fell over Border once again.

Shin’s mentor, Rindou, was devastated. Border mourned for the loss of one of their brightest star.

Kazama?

Kazama Souya didn’t grieve. No, he refused to accept that his brother’s death would stop Shin’s dream for coming true. He felt even more compelled to debut, even if Shin cannot stand on stage with him anymore, his dream can still be fulfilled as long as Kazama can make it through to debut.

Just because he is one of the oldest trainee didn’t mean he immediately make the cut. There are many younger and talented agents than him; take Tachikawa and Ninomiya for singing department, Arashiyama who had ‘debuted’ earlier through various variety program, then Touma and Narasaka with their dances.

And then there was Jin, Mogami Shoichi (SHO-1)’s pupil who’s as talented in singing and composing as much as he is in rapping. Jin is the jack of all trades, a versatile entertainer, he has the x-factor to debut, and he is an incredibly hard-worker. Even though it goes unsaid, everybody is sure that Jin would make it to the final cut of debut.

If Kazama slacked off and didn’t hone his skills, he would lost to his juniors. So Kazama worked ever harder than before, cultivating his singing and dancing skills while also picking up rapping at the same time. Later under Rindou’s reference, he started trying radio-dj and fell in love with it as well.

His hard works are finally paid off when his name is announced to be on the list of ‘BORDER Team B’ members.

BORDER’s system is like this; other than mandatory lessons like singing and dancing, Trainees are required to pick up variety skill classes (basic variety skill lesson, then after 6 months, they’re allowed to freely choose one to two lessons, including acting and MC-ing), and musical & performance class (also basic for 6 months where they’re taught about musical instruments and later they can choose optional lessons like rapping and instrument-specific lessons such as piano or guitar).

A trainee also must have one field they’re expertise in. For example, Tachikawa cannot rap even if you point a gun to his face, but his singing is arguably the best amongst all trainees. Performance-wise, there are more well-rounded trainees than Arashiyama but his variety skill is exceptional (which was why he ‘debuted’ in entertainment industry faster than anyone else, he started off as child-actor then model).

The more well-rounded you are, the bigger your chance to debut. Jack of all trades like Jin and Kageura who’s singing, dancing, and rapping skills are all above average, are almost ensured to debut. Their scores from each lessons will be accumulated but having good total scores don’t immediately make you a debut candidate, even with your special skill appeal.

There needs to be an x-factor to be a star and that x-factor, sadly, doesn’t exist in just anyone. You can be great at singing but if you don’t have that appeal, you’re not fit to become an idol.

In the end, it’s all up to the 1 st gen BORDER members to decide who’s going to debut. Trainees with potential will be put in different groups made of 4 or 5. They have to take mandatory lessons together, working on their team performance while being scored individually. The team will last for 3 months before they replace the members. Trainee with good performance will be rotated to another groups, and those who didn’t will be taken off from any group.

The system lasted for 4 years, and after so many rotations, on winter of Kazama’s 5 th year as trainee, Kidou finally announced the next rotation will be the final rotation before official team debut. He also explained that Border will be debuting 2 groups at once.

1 group, unofficially named ‘BORDER Team A’ will cater to public’s taste, in other words, their direction is commercial one. They will go with bright, cheerful, and playful image, easy-listening and public friendly song that will capture the hearts of many. They will make many appearances in variety shows, but more to promote their group rather than their song. They will be the ‘popular’ group that gathers attention from general market audience, and generate profit from huge album sales.

The other group, ‘BORDER Team B’ is performance-centred group. They will appeal to public not with their promotion but their on stage performance. Their aim is to establish reputation as talented performer and musicality. For that reason, their market size will be considerably smaller, they’re not expected to make as much sales as Team B.

Despite the many doubts surrounding this concept, Kazama understands that this is the best for Border. Border’s aim to reclaim their territory in music industry and unless they go with this route, they cannot claim total domination. It’s greedy, sure, and this was never done before, but Kazama trusts the 1 st gen members know what they’re doing.

He is in Team B, and though not explicitly stated, he’s expected to be their team leader. The other trainees chosen to be in Team B are Ninomiya Masataka, Miwa Shuuji, and Kageura Masato. A very interesting yet problematic choice of members. Still, Kazama believes Kidou and co knows what they’re doing and whatever reason they had to assemble a team of these members, is for Border’s greater good.

Really, even if sometimes there were times when he doubted their decision, case in point being the sudden downturn of mood whenever 3 names are mentioned (those 3 names then become forbidden in their training sessions), he cannot deny that this members indeed fulfil all conditions required to make Team B works.

3 months later found Kazama and his team members (after another round of stupid arguments regarding those 3 forbidden names) in front of 1 st gen BORDER, ready to accept the name they will be known as in public.

It’s not going to be “Jin Crushers” as Miwa had insisted, or “Tachikawa Buster” like Ninomiya had stubbornly argued.

Their name is “Altair” the brightest star in constellation of Aquila, one star that makes up the summer triangle.

It’s a beautiful name, in Kazama’s opinion (certainly better than the names his team members had come up with. Seriously;  _ what were they thinking? _ ). And it fits them, not the brightest in Summer Triangle they might be, but without them, it cannot stands.

According to Kidou, that’s exactly why they choose Team B with their direction to take their name after this star. What makes an artist truly successful is not their fame, but their longevity, and it comes from quality. Border’s vision is total domination of both idol and music industry. Vega can appeal to public, but to the critics of music industry who rarely have good opinion toward idols’ musicality at all, Border needs Altair to appeal for them.

It is a mission Kidou entrusted to them, and as someone who enjoys performing – someone who has come to enjoy performing even if he didn’t do it for himself in the first place – it the greatest honour Kazama can have. That means Border acknowledges his capability as performer, something he had painstakingly worked hard for in the past 5 years.

It is an honour, not only for him but also his brother. And for this, Kazama is immensely grateful. Even if Shin is not here anymore, his dream is finally fullfiled.


End file.
